An electrical connector principally includes an insulating housing, a plug and a circuit mounted within the housing. The plug is used to accept power supplied by an external power source and deliver the power to the circuit. The arrangement of the circuit is dependent on the function of the connector, for example being as an adapter or a charger, to perform rectification or conversion for a power-receiving device. The plug of a typical connector usually has two conducting pins projected from one side of the housing. When the connector is not in use, a man is easy to get hurt by the tips of projected pins. Thus, a connector having a foldable plug has been developed. FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b) show the perspective view and cross-sectional view of a typical connector having a foldable plug. Such connector includes a housing 10 and a plug 11. The housing further has a concave storage confinement 12 near the top edge of the housing 10. The plug 11 is mainly composed of a rod 111 having a tenon 114 on each side thereof, two first pins 112 and two second pins 113. The first pins 112 and the second pins 113 respectively have holes 115 and 116 corresponding to the tenon 114 for inserting the tenon 114 to make the connection of the first pins 112, the second pins 113 and the rod 111. Each side wall of the concave storage confinement 12 has a spring receptacle 121 containing a spring 122. The ends of the spring 122 are respectively in contact with a side of the spring receptacle 121 and a cavity 117 disposed in each of the first pins 112 via a fixing element 123. The plug is positioned in the concave storage confinement 12 by the resilience force of the springs 122 and folded by adjusting the first pins to drive the second pins and rotate the rod 111. Thus, the plug 11 is electrically connected to the circuit mounted inside the housing 11.
Although the above mentioned connector has a foldable plug, the connector still has the following drawbacks:
1. Five elements, i.e. one rod 111, two first pins 112, two second pins, are required for assembling the plug 10; furthermore, assembling the connector further needs two springs 122, two fixing elements 123, one upper housing and one lower housing of the insulating housing 10 and one circuit board (not shown), that is to say, thirteen elements are require to assemble the connector, which is costly in managing and purchasing the elements.
2. The process for assembling the plug 10 is complicated and the first pins 112 and the second pins 113 are easily detached from the tenon 114.
Therefore, the present invention provides an improved structure of a connector having a foldable plug for overcoming the problems described above.